Discontent
by Deandra
Summary: Their firstborn seems to occupy Lothiriel's every waking moment, making Eomer rather discontent. Fluffy little ONESHOT. Part 119 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


_**Part 119 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.**_

_**A/N: And still more baby stories, but I may have gotten it out of my system now and can focus on other topics! After all, there are still a few couples I need to get married so they can begin to have babies!**_

**Discontent**

**(April, 1 IV)**

_He used to have a wife,_ Eomer mused as he scowled at his desk – _a warm, loving, laughing wife_. But ever since the birth of their son, he had felt distanced from her. All her attention was focused on the child and, when it was not, she was usually asleep. He did not think he had held a true conversation with her in nearly a fortnight. She generally was in bed and asleep before he could disentangle himself from advisers and the like. Plain and simple, he was lonely. He had not expected fatherhood to be like this. Where was the loving family of father, mother and child he had anticipated? While he knew his responsibilities as king would unavoidably keep him separate from his beloved pair more often than he would like, always before Lothiriel had been there to sneak in a few moments of time with him no matter how pressed he was. He felt her absence keenly.

In some ways, it seemed unreasonable for him to have such feelings. One look at his dear wife and he could tell how exhausted she was, both from recovering her health after the birth and in meeting the needs of a newborn. He did not wish to make life more difficult for her with his own demands, but…

xx

Lothiriel laid her sleeping baby in his crib, wearily brushing a tender finger over his cheek. With a huge yawn, she made her way to her bed, and snuggled under the quilt. Almost instantly, she was sound asleep. Little more than an hour later, she was pulled back to consciousness by Elfwine's crying, and she tiredly staggered to her feet to attend him.

Moments later, gazing down at the eagerly sucking bundle in her arms, her heart was full. She could not love the little mite any more than she already did, but each day it seemed that love grew deeper. And, yet, he was exhausting. She had not expected that – to always be virtually dead on her feet. In Gondor, wet nurses and maidservants took much of the work from the new mother, but even at the thought, her arms tightened around her son. How could she hand him over to strangers? He was part of her, and her responsibility, and the women of Rohan did not relinquish such things to others; neither would she. She pressed a gentle kiss to his downy head, and then let her eyes slip closed, to rest them against the bright spring sunlight streaming through the window.

Lothiriel was startled awake at a tug on the baby she held, and her eyes blinked open to discover she had fallen asleep in the chair while nursing Elfwine. Eomer stood over her, and smiled apologetically. "I did not mean to wake you, beloved. I thought I could put Elfwine back in his crib without disturbing your slumber."

Releasing her hold, she let him take their son back to bed and sat lethargically watching, too fatigued to do more than draw her robe around her. Once Elfwine was snuggled safe in the crib, Eomer turned back to his wife and rejoined her, pulling a stool near to sit upon. Taking a deep breath, he reached for her hands and broached the subject that had been haunting him for days.

"Thiri, I understand that your body needs time to heal after bearing a child, before we can again be intimate, and I do not begrudge you that. I also know that an infant's needs are great, and caring for our son is exhausting to you. But can you not spare even a few moments for me? I should like to have my wife back," he plaintively explained.

Tears filled Lothiriel's eyes, and she quickly turned her face away to hide her emotion. It was too much to take. She was tired, yet she got little sleep during the night with Elfwine's frequent nursing. She never seemed to find enough hours in the day to do all that needed doing, and now this. What did everyone expect of her? She was not made of steel, and this load was crushing her!

Eomer leaned forward, wrapping strong arms around her as he pulled her onto his lap and laid his head on hers, pressing her close against him. "Do not weep, my love," he whispered. "I meant no censure by my words. I just...miss you. I miss holding you, while you are awake, and I miss talking with you. I miss being with you as before. Is there nothing that can be done that will allow us to be close once more, without adding to your already considerable burden?"

At his gentle words, the floodgates opened and the tears flowed freely. When they subsided, she felt utterly spent, and all the while he held her, stroking her head soothingly.

"I…I try to be a good mother, Eomer, and I know that women of Rohan manage such things far better than I do, even with more than one child to care for, but…but…." She struggled to put her frustration into words, and he pressed his fingers to her lips to silence her.

He had thought he understood what her challenges were, and had envisioned all the difficulties she faced, but clearly there was far more going on than he knew. Never would he have expected her to believe she was somehow falling short, somehow failing.

Leaning his head against hers once more, he earnestly assured her, "The women of Rohan are good and admirable, but they do not surpass you, my sweet. They have mothers and sisters and friends who help them, particularly in the early days when life is so taxing for a woman who has just given birth. Do not think you must do everything yourself. No one expects that of you, least of all me. Let us reason together how we may work this out so that we can be united again as we were before, even while meeting our son's needs and helping you get the rest you require."

He paused, simply holding her close for a time, and then finally asked, "Would you be agreeable to my spending more time with you as you care for the baby? We could talk as you nurse our son, and perhaps I could help with his care and relieve some of your burden?" No, he would not let her struggle alone. As she had ever been at his side, he would be at hers, lending a hand wherever he could.

She nodded, a few stray tears trickling down her face, and he kissed them away. "Do not weep, beloved. I just want you to enjoy motherhood, not be overwhelmed by it. I want us to be a family rather than separate members of a household. I will do my part wherever possible so that you may not be overencumbered."

She turned and caught his cheek with her hand, pressing a warm kiss to his lips. Softly, she murmured, "Thank you, my love. I do not wish to give up caring for our son, but neither do I wish to shortchange you. We will learn this parenting thing eventually, I am sure – together!"

THE END

1/13/07 – 1/26/07

**_End note:  It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content._**


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